Seam for visually suppressing a gap between two adjacent reflective surfaces

ABSTRACT

The present seam visually suppresses a gap defined between two adjacent reflective surfaces. The seam comprises a strip of light propagating material and a plurality of lighting units. The strip of light propagating material defines a front surface, two side surfaces and a back surface. The side surfaces of the strip of light propagating material is adapted for being positioning in the gap defined between the adjacent reflective surfaces. The lighting units are positioned along the back surface of the strip of light propagating material and are adapted for propagating light in the strip of light propagating material. When light is propagated in the strip of light propagating material, the gap between the two adjacent reflective surfaces is visually suppressed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of reflective displays, andmore particularly to a seam for visually suppressing a gap between twoadjacent reflective surfaces.

BACKGROUND

Commercial airlines are highly regulated to ensure public's security.One aspect of the security measures requires regular training andevaluation of the pilots. Pilots are trained in a controlled environmentcalled a flight simulator.

Flight simulators recreate the cockpit and overall environmentexperience in which the pilots fly aircrafts. Flight simulators recreatethe look and feel of the instruments in the cockpit, the out-of windowview available before, during and after a flight, as well as themovements of the aircraft felt in the cockpit.

One of the numerous challenges when building a flight simulator lies inproviding a realistic out-of-window view. Many factors concur forcreating a realistic out-of window view. A first criteria is related tothe field of view provided to a pilot in an aircraft. Typically, a pilothas a 220° field of view, i.e. 110° on each side of the nose of theplane. Secondly, to recreate the feeling of depth in the out-of windowview presented to the pilot, images to be displayed are projected on alarge curved rear-projection screen and which is viewed by a largereflective surface which is positioned at a certain distance from thepilot. Thirdly, the display system can be mounted on a moving simulatorplatform or be fixed in place and non-moving.

To overcome these challenges, many flight simulators manufacturers use aflexible reflective surface made of MYLAR®. MYLAR® is lightweight andcan be somewhat curved. However, as Mylar stretches, it is not possibleto achieve a perfect curvature and as a result the out-of window viewdisplayed to the pilot is distorted in some areas.

Other flight simulators manufacturers use sheets of mirrors, installedone next to another, to form the reflective surface. However, because ofthe inherent movement of the flight simulator, a slight gap is leftbetween the sheets of mirrors to prevent scraping, chipping and breakingof the edges of one sheet of mirror with the adjacent sheet of mirror.As no image is reflected by the gap between the sheets of mirrors, thegap can be visually perceived by the pilot in the flight simulator. Thegap negatively affects the realism of the out-of window view of thepilot in the flight simulator, and is considered annoying by some.

There is therefore a need for improving the out-of window view presentedto a pilot during training or evaluation in a flight simulator.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a seam for visually suppressing a gapdefined between two adjacent reflective surfaces. The seam comprises astrip of light propagating material and a plurality of lighting units.The strip of light propagating material defines a front surface, twosides surfaces and a back surface. The side surfaces of the strip oflight propagating material are adapted for being positioned in the gapbetween the adjacent reflective surfaces. The lighting units arepositioned along the back surface of the strip of light propagatingmaterial and are adapted for propagating light in the strip of lightpropagating material. When light is propagated in the strip of lightpropagating material, the gap between the two adjacent reflectivesurface is visually suppressed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the disclosure will be described by way of example onlywith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a seam in accordance with the presentinvention for visually suppressing a gap between two reflectivesurfaces;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a lighting unit in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 is another schematic view of the present seam in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is another schematic view of the present seam in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is schematic cross-sectional view of a reflective display inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an image generator in accordance with thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The foregoing and other features will become more apparent upon readingof the following non-restrictive description of illustrative embodimentsthereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. Like numerals represent like features on the various drawings.

Various aspects of the present invention generally address variousdrawbacks related to large reflective displays.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic view of the presentseam 100. The seam 100 is adapted for being positioned between twoadjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212. In operation, the seam 100visually suppresses a gap between the two adjacent reflective surfaces210, 212 so that when an image is reflected on the reflective surfaces210, 212, and the present seam 100 is actuated, the gap between the tworeflective surfaces 210, 212 visually reduces and the two reflectivesurfaces 210, 212 appear visually connected.

The seam 100 comprises a strip 120 of light propagating material. Thestrip 120 of light propagating material defines a front surface 122, twosides surfaces 124, 126 and a back surface 128. The side surfaces 124,126 are adapted for positioning between the adjacent reflective surfaces210, 212. The front surface 122 is adapted for visually suppressing thegap between the two adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212 when the seamis actuated. More particularly, the front surface 122 is shaped so thatwhen light is propagated from the back 128 of the strip 120 of lightpropagating material to the front 122 of the strip of the lightpropagating material, the light propagated is distributed substantiallyevenly along the front 122 of the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial.

The strip 120 of light propagating material is shown on FIG. 1 as havinga square shape. However, the strip 120 of light propagating material mayhave any shape appropriate to substantially evenly distributing lightpropagated therein. For example, the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial may have a circular cross-sectional shape, an oblongcross-sectional shape, a rectangular cross-sectional shape, etc.

The strip 120 of light propagating material is shown on FIG. 1 as beingpositioned between the reflective surfaces 210, 212. Such representationis for facilitating the incorporation of reference numerals only. Inuse, the strip 120 of light propagating material is securely installedbetween the reflective surfaces 210, 212. To facilitate its installationbetween the two reflective surfaces 210, 212, the strip 120 of lightpropagating material is made of a material that is flexible. Theflexibility of the strip 120 of light propagating material allow itsinstallation between the reflective surfaces 210, 212, after thereflective surfaces 210, 212 have been securely fixed. To ensure a tightfit with the reflective surfaces 210, 212, the strip 120 of lightpropagating material may also be compressible. By being flexible andcompressible, the strip 120 of light propagating material ensures aneasy installation between the reflective surfaces 210, 212, as well as atight fit between the reflective surfaces 210, 212. Furthermore, as theedges of the reflective surfaces 210, 212 may not be perfectly parallel,the flexibility and compressibility of the strip 120 of lightpropagating material compensates for the unevenness of the edges of thereflective surfaces 210, 212.

When the present seam 100 is used between reflective surfaces 210, 212of a flight simulator, the strip 120 of light propagating materialfurther absorbs the vibrations and movements between the reflectivesurfaces 210, 212, thereby further preventing chipping or cracking alongthe edges of the reflective surfaces 210, 212.

The strip 120 of light propagating material is further made of amaterial that allows light propagation therein. For example, the strip120 of light propagating material is made of any of the following: aclear material, a semi-clear material, a semi-opaque material and/or alight scattering material. Alternatively, the 120 of light propagatingmaterial may have a front 122, back 128 and interior made of lightpropagating material, while the sides 124, 126 do not propagate light.For example, the sides 124, 126 could be painted or covered with amaterial having a dark or opaque color.

The strip 120 of light propagating material could have a hollow centerbetween the front 122, the sides 124, 126 and the back 128.Alternatively, the strip 120 of light propagating material could have asolid center.

The strip 120 of light propagating material may be made of any of thefollowing materials, either used solely, or in combination such as forexample in sandwiched configuration: silicone, latex, plastic, or whiteclosed-cell foam.

The seam 100 further comprises a plurality of lighting units 130. FIG. 1shows only one lighting unit 130 for simplicity purposes, but thepresent seam 100 typically includes a plurality of lighting unitsdistributed along the back 128 of the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial. The plurality of lighting units 130 generate the light to bepropagated in the strip 120 of light propagating material.

FIG. 1 shows that the lighting unit 130 is of the same size as the strip120 of light propagating material. However, the lighting unit 130 couldbe of different dimensions than the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial, and could even be larger than the strip 120 of lightpropagating material. In the event that the lighting units 130 arelarger than the strip 120 of light propagating material, a lens could beinstalled between the lighting unit 130 and the strip 120 of lightpropagating material to focus the light generated by the lighting unit130 into the strip 120 of light propagating material.

The plurality of lighting units 130 are distributed along the back 128of the strip 120 of light propagating material along a length of thereflective surfaces 210, 212. The plurality of lighting units 130 may bedistributed evenly, i.e. at equal distance from one another along theback 128 of the strip 120 of light propagating material, or bedistributed so as to visually connect the reflective surfaces 210, 212where the seam or gap there between is more visible.

The plurality of lighting units 130 may be positioned against the back128 of the strip 120 of light propagating material. Alternatively, theplurality of lighting units 130 may be positioned at a predetermineddistance from the back 128 of the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial.

Reference is now made concurrently to FIGS. 1 and 2, where FIG. 2 is aschematic representation of one lighting unit 130. Each lighting unit130 comprises a red light-emitting diode (LED) 132, a green LED 134 anda blue LED 136. Each lighting unit 130 further comprises a lightcontroller 138. The light controller 138 receives lighting data. Thelighting data comprises a light intensity information for the red LED132, for the green LED 134 and for the blue LED 136. The lightcontroller 138 controls the generation of light by the red LED 132, thegreen LED 134 and the blue LED 136, based on the lighting data received.The light controller 138 receives the lighting data, and processes thereceived lighting data using any of the following transfer-functionmethods: area intensity averaging, running average box-car filtering,finite impulse response filtering (FIR), frequency-shift datareplacement and individual red, green and blue intensity modulation, orany combination thereof.

Reference is now concurrently made to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, where FIG. 3 isanother schematic view of the present seam 100. More particularly, FIG.3 represents an exploded view of the present seam 100, where the variouselements are separated from each other to simplify the schematicrepresentation. The seam 100 comprises a support structure 140. Thesupport structure 140 receives and secures the plurality of lightingunits 130. The support structure may be made of a solid material, or maybe made of a semi-flexible material. The support structure 140 issubstantially of the same length as the strip 120 of light propagatingmaterial. The support structure 140 may be of the same width as the back128 of the strip 120 of light propagating material, or may be wider. Thesupport structure 140 further receives the back 128 of the strip 120 oflight propagating material. The back 128 of the strip 120 of lightpropagating material may fixedly affixed to the support structure 140 byglue or any other means for fixing materials such as the lightpropagating material to a solid or semi-flexible support structure 140.Alternately, the back 128 of the strip 120 of light propagating materialmay be inserted within a channel (not shown) defined in the supportstructure 140. The channel receives and slightly compresses the back 128of the strip 120 of light propagating material so as to retain the back128 of the strip 120 of light propagating material fixed along thesupport structure 140.

The seam 100 further comprises a plurality of light detectors 150. Eachlight detector generates lighting data that is forwarded to a lightcontroller 138 of a corresponding lighting unit 130. Each light detector150 may consist of any of the following: an optic fiber conductor with avery small input aperture (e.g. pin-hole) inserted through the strip 120of light propagating material, an LED light detector, a photosensor, aphotodetector, a photocell, a miniature CCD camera, or any combinationthereof. Each light detector 150 detects an intensity and color or lightin an area of the reflective surfaces adjacent to the strip 120 of lightpropagating material where the light detector 150 is positioned. Thelight detector 150 generates from the detected intensity and color ofthe light detected lighting data. The lighting data is provided to thelight controller 138 of the corresponding lighting unit 130. In atypical implementation, each lighting unit 130 is associated with acorresponding lighting detector 150. Each lighting unit 130 andcorresponding lighting detector 150 may be implemented as two separatecomponents, or be co-located in a single component. Each lightingdetector 150 is also affixed to the support structure 140 by means knownin the art for affixing components to a solid or semi-flexible material.

The strip 120 of light propagating material is affixed to the supportstructure 140 in such a manner that it facilities the insertion of thestrip 120 of light propagating material between the reflective surfaces210, 212. By maintaining the strip 120 of light propagating materialfrom the back 128 onto the support structure 140 it makes is simple togently compress the strip 120 of light propagating material between thetwo adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212. Compression of the strip 120of light propagating material between the two adjacent reflectivesurfaces 210, 212 may suffice to maintain the seam in position betweenthe two adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212.

FIG. 3 shows an implementation where the lighting units 130 and thelight detectors 150 are positioned between the strip 120 of lightpropagating material and the support structure 140. However, the presentseam 100 is not limited to such an implementation. Depending on the sizeof the lighting units 130 and the light detectors 150, the lightingunits and/or light detectors 150 could be positioning on the other sizeof the support structure, i.e. on the side opposite to the strip 120 oflight propagating material. Alternatively, the lighting units 130 andthe light detectors 150 could be positioned on sides of the supportstructure 140, behind one of the reflective surfaces 210, 212. To thateffect, the support structure 140 could be provided with a series ofaperture for allowing the collection of light by the light detectors150, and the propagation of light inside the strip 120 of lightpropagating material by the lighting units 130.

As the strip 120 of light propagating material is inserted andcompressed between the adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212, and thesupport structure 140 is mounted on the back 128 of the strip 120 oflight propagating material, the adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212may move with respect to one another during for example a flightsimulation. Movement of the reflective surfaces 210, 212 with respect toone another, while having the strip 120 of light propagating materialact as an absorbing material between the adjacent reflective surfaces210, 212 prevents contact between the adjacent reflective surfaces 210,212, and therefor the possible grinding, scratching, chipping andcracking of the adjacent reflective surfaces 210, 212 duringparticularly agitated simulations.

Reference is now concurrently made to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, where FIG. 4depicts an alternative implementation of the present seam 100. Moreparticularly, FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the present seam100, exploded for clarity purposes, in which the lighting data isreceived through an input/output unit 160. In this embodiment, thelighting data is received through input/output unit 160, which providesthe lighting data to the lighting units 130. The input/output unit 160may be in wired or wireless communication with an image generator, whichwill be discussed later. The input/output unit 160 may be positionedbetween the strip 120 of light propagating material and the supportstructure 140. Alternatively, the input/output unit 160 may bepositioned on a side of the support structure that is different than theside on which the strip 120 of light propagating material is affixed.The input/output unit 160 may communicate with one or a plurality of thelighting units 130. The seam 100 may further include a plurality ofinput/output units 160, each input/output unit 160 forwarding thelighting data to the corresponding lighting units 130.

Typically, the input/output unit 130 receives the lighting data for aplurality of lighting units 130. To ensure that the input/output unit130 forwards the lighting data to the correct lighting units 130, thelighting data is sent to the input/output unit using a standard orproprietary protocol, and each lighting data is associated with one ofthe lighting units 130. The input/output unit 160 thus receives eitherthrough wires or wireless the lighting data for the correspondinglighting units 130, and dispatches the lighting data to appropriateoutput ports in electronic communication with the corresponding lightingunits 130.

Alternatively, the input/output unit 160 may correspond to acommunication bus, which receives the lighting data and dispatch thereceived lighting data to the corresponding lighting units 130.

In this implementation, the red LED 132, the green LED 134 and the blueLED 136 are thus controlled by their respective light controller 138based on the lighting data received from an image generator.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is an exploded schematicrepresentation of a reflective display 200 incorporating the presentseam 100. The present reflective display 200 comprises two adjacentreflective surfaces 210, 212. The reflective surfaces 210, 212 mayconsist of any of the following: sheets of mirrors, MYLAR® sheetsmounted on frames, or any similar reflective surfaces which can be usedto design a large reflective display 200. Although FIG. 5 depicts tworeflective surfaces 210, 212 and one vertical seam 100, the presentreflective display 200 is not limited to such a number of reflectivesurfaces 210, 212 and number and/or positioning of the seam 100. Forexample, an out-of-window reflective display to be used for a flightsimulator could comprise five consecutive reflective surfaces, each twoconsecutive reflective surfaces being visually connected by one seam.Hence, an out-of-window reflective display could be constructed usingfive reflective surfaces and four seams.

The reflective display 200 includes the seam previously discussed.Although FIG. 5 depicts the seam 100 implementation of FIG. 4, in whichthe lighting data is received from an image generator, the presentreflective display 200 is not limited to the implementation of FIG. 4.Alternatively, the reflective display 200 could include the seampreviously discussed with respect to FIG. 3, in which the lighting datawas collected by the light detectors 150 mounted therewith.

Reference is now made concurrently to FIGS. 1-5 and 6, where FIG. 6schematically depicts an image generator 300 for use with the presentseam 100 and/or the reflective display 200. The image generator 300 maybe used concurrently with a simulator, a display driver, a displaybuffer, etc. The image generator 300, in operation, visually adjoins theseam 100 between the two reflective surfaces 210, 212 by generatinglighting data based on a stream of images to be directly or ultimatelyreflectively displayed on the reflective surfaces 210, 212. The imagegenerator 300 comprises memory 310 and a processor 320. The memory 310stores position of the seam 100 on the reflective display 200.

The processor 320 receives the stream of images to be reflectivelydisplayed on the reflective surfaces 210, 212. The processor 320analyses the stream of images to be displayed on the reflective display200, to determine the colors and light intensity of the pixelspositioned in the vicinity of the seam 100. For example, the processor320 may extract from the memory 310 the position of the seam 100 on thereflective display 200, and determine the average color and lightintensity for a predetermined number of pixels on each side of the seam100, to generate the lighting data to be provided to the lighting units130. To reduce processing power, the stream of images may be stored inmemory 310, and sampled so as to analyze the colors and light intensityfor a predetermined number of pixels on each side of the seam, for oneout of every two, three, four or five images. The processor 320 maydetermine the average color and light intensity of the pixels on eachside of the seam using any of the following transfer-function methods:area intensity averaging, running average box-car filtering, finiteimpulse response filtering (FIR), frequency-shift data replacement andindividual red, green and blue intensity modulation, or any combinationthereof. The processor 320 may average the color and light intensity onthe pixels on each side of the seam for any of the following:independently for each image, averaged over a predetermined number ofconsecutive images, or averaged over a predetermined number of sampledimages.

The processor 320 communicates via wired or wirelessly with theplurality of lighting units 130, and sends to each lighting unit 130 thecorresponding lighting data, thereby controlling the lighting units 130.

Although the present seam, reflective display and image generator havebeen described hereinabove by way of non-restrictive, illustrativeembodiments thereof, these embodiments may be modified at will withinthe scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit andnature of the present disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A reflective display comprising: twoadjacent reflective bodies being positioned side-by-side and spacedapart by a gap and each one of the two adjacent reflective bodiescomprising a front reflective surface for displaying a stream of imagesthereon; and a seam inserted in the gap between the two adjacentreflective bodies, the seam comprising: a strip of light propagatingmaterial, the strip of light propagating material defining a frontsurface, two sides surfaces and a back surface, the side surfaces beingpositioned between the adjacent reflective bodies and the front surfaceof the strip of light propagating material being aligned with the frontreflective surfaces of the adjacent reflective bodies; a plurality oflighting units positioned along the back surface of the strip of lightpropagating material for propagating light in the strip of lightpropagating material towards the front surface of the strip of lightpropagating material, whereby when light is propagated in the strip oflight propagating material, the gap between the two adjacent reflectivebodies is visually suppressed; and a plurality of light detectors, thelight detectors being positioned along the strip of light propagatingmaterial, each light detector for collecting light projected on thereflective surfaces in an area surrounding the light detector andgenerating corresponding lighting data, wherein each lighting unitcomprises: a red light-emitting diode (LED), a green LED and a blue LED,and each lighting unit further comprises a light controller forcontrolling actuation of the red LED, the green LED and the blue LED. 2.The reflective display of claim 1, wherein the lightning units arepositioned along the back of the strip of light propagating material atequal distances from one another.
 3. The reflective display of claim 1,wherein the strip of light propagating material is flexible.
 4. Thereflective display of claim 1, wherein the strip of light propagatingmaterial is compressible.
 5. The reflective display of claim 1, whereinthe strip of light propagating material is flexible and compressible. 6.The reflective display of claim 1, wherein the strip of lightpropagating material is made of one of the following: a clear material,a semi-clear material or a semi-opaque material.
 7. The reflectivedisplay of claim 1, wherein the strip of lighting propagating materialis made of a light scattering material.
 8. The reflective display ofclaim 1, further comprising a support structure for securing theplurality of lighting units.
 9. The reflective display of claim 8,wherein the support structure allows the light propagating material tobe inserted and compressed between the two adjacent reflective bodies.10. The reflective display of claim 9, wherein the support structureallows the two adjacent reflective bodies to move with respect to oneanother.
 11. The reflective display of claim 1, wherein the lightcontroller of each lighting unit receives the lighting data of at leastone of the plurality of light detectors and controls the red LED, thegreen LED and the blue LED based on the received lighting data.
 12. Thereflective display of claim 1, wherein the light controller receives thelighting data from an image generator and controls the red LED, thegreen LED and the blue LED based on the lighting data received from theimage generator.
 13. The reflective display of claim 12, wherein thelight controller receives the lighting data from the image generatorwirelessly.